Hydrant indicating and operating device



'April19, 1949.- A 2,467,908

HYDRANT INDICATING AND OPERATING DEVICE Filed Jan. 9, 1948 .IINVENTOR. I flaw Patented Apr. 19, 1949 HYDRAN T INDICATING AND OPERATING DEVICE Ned H. Rand, Orange, Mass., assignor of one-half to Melvin A. Band, Orange, Mass.

Application January 9, 1948, Serial No. 1,438

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for indicating and operating fire hydrants and this application is a continuation in part of an application Ser. No. 734,005, filed by me on March 12, 1947.

The principal objects of the invention are directed to the provision of a device which is adapted for association with a fire hydrant and is constructed and arranged to function as an indicator or marker for the hydrant as Well as for operating the same.

It is difficult and often impossible for firemen to locate a fire hydrant when located in tall undergrowth, bushes and the like and frequently hydrants are completely lost from view due to snow fall.

According to this invention a device is provided for securement to the valve nut of a fire hydrant, which has a part extending upwardly therefrom provided with one or more reflectors and the device is so arranged that it may be rotated for adjusting the hydrant supply valve. In this way the device serves the dual function of indicating or marking a fire hydrant and operating the same.

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claim hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a hydrant indicating and operating device embodying the novel features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan View on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, the invention will be fully described.

The upper portion of a fire hydrant is represented by 2 which has a valve operating nut 4 on the upper side thereof.

The valve of the hydrant (not shown) is normally located below the ground and an upwardly extending spindle or stem is connected to the nut 4 so that as the nut is turned in one direction or the other the valve is opened or closed.

A vertically extending support 6 is provided which has a base 8 at its lower end. Said base 8 is provided with a socket III which is of a size and shape to operatively receive the nut 4 which normally has plural flat sides.

A nut I2 is provided on the upper side of the base 8. This nut is made so as to correspond in size and shape to the hydrant nut 4.

Means such as a set screw or screws l4 are in threaded engagement with the base and are adapted to abut the nut 4. In this Way the device is secured to the nut of the hydrant.

A target it preferably in the form of a ring is secured to the upper end of the support 6. This may be accomplished by means of an arm or arms shown at l8 which rigidly connect the target and support, as shown in Fig. 3.

The support 6 has a lower offset portion 20, shown in Fig. 2 which is desirable to provide free access to the nut l2 and at the same time locate the axis of the target in substantial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the hydrant.

One or more reflectors indicated by iii are carried by the target and will be of glass or such material as will be adapted to reflect light rays in numerous directions. With the device associated with a hydrant as described, the target is elevated thereabove so as to indicate the location of the hydrant.

The support may be of any desired height so as to function for the intended purpose and it may be made from any material desired.

The device is so secured to the hydrant and is so constructed and arranged as to facilitate its operation readily and easily for actuating the hydrant nut.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A device adapted to be secured to the plural sided rotatable operating nut on the upper side of a fire hydrant for indicating the location of said hydrant and for actuating said nut comprising in combination, a base having a plural sided socket extending upwardly from the lower side thereof for receiving an operating nut of a fire hydrant, screw means in said base for engaging said nut and securing the base thereto, a support having connected together lower, intermediate and upper portions, the said lower portion being integral with said base and extending outwardly therefrom, said intermediate portion extending upwardly from said lower portion and disposed at a distance from and parallel to the longitudinal axis of said socket and of the axis of the operating nut which it receives, said upper portion extending inwardly from the upper end of said intermediate portion and then upwardly in substantial alignment with said axis, a circular member on the upper extremity of the said upper portion having a plurality of reflectors secured thereto, a plural sided actuating nut on and integral with the upper side of said base which is substantially the size and shape of said 4 socket for rotating said base, and the jointure of the adjacent portions of said intermediate and upper portions of the support being disposed at a distance above said nut providing a space between said jointure and nut for the application of a tool to said nut.

NED H. RAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED-STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 729,672" Sack June 2, 1903 998,782 Lake July 25, 1911 2,175,565 Blackman et a1. Oct. 10, 1939 2,175,567 Blackman et a1 Oct. 10, 1939 2,424,269 Doody July 22, 1947 

